She liked to sit looking out a patio window for long periods of time, and I knew she did not belong inside. She was, after all, truly a wild bird.

Sophia sunning

Sophia was older than the rowdy Blue-winged macaws shown in the photo below. (My Illiger's have been good natured but certainly believe generally that their fun comes first to the exclusion of other birds).

Illiger's ruling the roost and Sophia watching

Nonetheless, when one views photos of wild Red-bellied macaws actually living where they should be, they are typically in flocks of other Red-bellied macawsi. According to an article in Wikipedia:

"They roost communally in the moriche palms, and large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk… They choose large stands of these palms that have an overabundance of woodpecker holes as roosting sites. They sleep communally in these groups of hollows. Depending on the size of the hollow, between five and 10 birds sleep together. As dusk approaches, they all pile into these dormitories and sleep shoulder to shoulder.ii"

There is little question in my mind that Sophia's daily life changed dramatically when Francie and Quattro, the two juvenile Red bellied macaws, arrived nearly a year to the day after Sophia arrived. I came home with these two on April 4, 2001 and had them set up in a spare bedroom together. As Sophia already had a "well-bird" exam on May 5, 2000, shortly after her arrival, I considered her to have been adequately quarantined and did not keep her separate from the two youngsters. She and they were introduced on April 6, immediately after the "well bird" exam for the two juveniles.

Her reaction was immediately one of curiosity, and also protectiveness over these two young manilatas.I had been very worried that there might be a negative or competitive attitude, but that was never the case. They became her family, her young, and her responsibility. Wherever they were, that's where she wanted to be. I saw her on more than one occasion drive other birds away from her "territory" in an aggressive, no nonsense manner that made it very clear that no other flock member except she could approach these two young. The behavior was not at all consistent with what I had previously witnessed -- a gentle bird and unique species, even if not really tame. The protective, territorial, and assertive behavior came on nearly instantaneously and the three accepted one another in a nanosecond.

The family unites

With that protectiveness, it seemed best to have them caged together. All three went into the largest King's cage that I had, and spent the days together. It was telling about the species.

Francie and Quattro still benefited from some handfeeding. Sophia was a bit wary when I reached in the cage to get one or both and do this, and sometimes exited the cage herself to observe the proceedings. It was about the only time that Sophia demonstrated any interest in where I headed and she would sometimes let out a large Red-bellied macaw holler when I did the feedings.

These were happy and fascinating months for Sophia, and also for me. I don't know how long it had been since she had been with other birds of her own kind. It was poignant to see her reaction. I was glad to be able to share that time. It was a tantalizing hint of what the species behavior might be in the wild, with young to guide and to guard.

Sophia, Quattro, and Francie 2001

Next Up in Red Bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 10: Unwelcome Lessons

(c) Evet Loewen. All parts of this blog including but not limited to the content written by the author, the photographs by the author, and data and information referred to or cited in this series of posts are copyrighted and may not be used for any purpose without the express consent of the author.

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i) One observer of the species in the wild, Mary McTague, has reported that the Yellow collar macaw (Primolius aricollis) sometimes has been viewed in mixed flocks with Red-bellied macaws and feeding in the same areas.
ii) Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-bellied_macaw
]]>Red-bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 8: Young Red-bellied Macaws Join the Flocktag:parrots.org,2015:index.php/78.22022015-01-05T23:40:36Z2015-01-05T23:31:37ZEvet LoewenEvet_Loewen@att.netResumption of Storyline Begins Anew in 2015

Well, how time flies when time flies! My apologies for the detritus of life interfering with the prompt posts to this blog.1

As a brief reprise, in Part 7 the theme was the temperament of Sophia, a wild caught Red-bellied Macaw that I had obtained in April, 2000. She was imported into Florida as evidenced by her open band (No. FKH 672) – at some point the band was removed, and it is still in my possession. She maintained her independence while also being cooperative. Requests definitely had to replace demands with her. The rest of the flock were relatively young and generally, though not always, accepting of her.

Some information on importation of this species provides a bit of context. If one does a rough calculation from the CITES trade database (http://trade.cites.org/), from 1981 through 19922 approximately 4,087 wild-caught Orthopsittaca manilata were imported from Guyana (as reported by the importer). There have been some live Red-bellied macaws (reported by importers in the number of 265) imported from Guyana up until 2012, perhaps the latest year of reporting. Some of these apparently were for trade or commercial purposes.3

So by the time the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 came into play, about 4100 or so Red-bellied macaws had been imported into this country according to the CITES data base, looking solely at the import numbers and not considering any other factors. Eight years later, though, as I started to search for a male or female compatriot for Sophia, the species was already uncommon in aviculture.4 Being like so many other humans, if it is rare, if it is difficult to find, if it is mysterious, if it is difficult to keep for unknown reasons – why, I must be THE person to have one or two or three of them!

As noted in Part 4 of these Chronicles, in the spring of 2000 I was seriously spending time on the internet “researching” all the small macaws. My theory at the time, prior to becoming educated by real avian scientists and biologists, was that if the macaws were small they must all get along, right? I don’t think I was quite that naïve but in looking back there were a lot of assumptions made that really didn’t pan out.

So I found “Sophia” in one internet search, and had her in the multi-species flock by late April. Simultaneously, though, other inquiries were going forward. This was a pre-Google, pre-Bing, pre-practically any search engine except Internet Explorer and Netscape. So what I did was fairly clunky in comparison to what can be done today. I looked through compilations of aviaries and breeders that were put together on the web and either found references to Red-bellied macaws, or I simply randomly emailed breeders to see if they either had any or knew of someone who did.

There were very, very few references to anyone who owned a Red-bellied Macaw. Eventually I found one breeder who indicated that she had Red-bellied Macaws for sale -- very uncommon then, and probably unheard of today. Though my initial email correspondence was with Chrissie Bryant, I soon understood that Ana Bryant, her mother, was the one who was trying to breed the species and going through the difficulties of raising them.

I immediately emailed about these unusual mini-macaws in mid-April of 2000. It was very exciting when I received a reply. Correspondence then proceeded until on April 4, 2001. I brought home from Texas two young DNA-sexed female red-bellied macaws, Francie and her sibling Quattro. Not too much later I also paid for Quattro when the original party in California who had been interested in this young bird did not continue with the purchase.

In purchasing these two youngsters I became friendly with Ana, the breeder, and that friendly contact continues to this day. I learned quite a bit about the background of Francie and Quattro who were first generation captive Red-bellied macaws.

Ana Bryant and her family live in Alvin, Texas. She bred several different exotic species for a number of years and began breeding Red-bellied macaws in 1996.

Red-bellied macaws came to Ana and her daughter, Chrissie, through a gentleman named Roy Powers who also lived in Alvin. He had hundreds of birds, and had purchased two pair of these macaws at an auction. They were banded. He gave them initially to Ana’s daughter because the birds had papillomas, and he did not do any veterinary workup on them.5 He gave them to Ana and her daughter in April, 1995.6

Ana took these birds to her veterinarian, Dr. Gary Harwell of Southeast Animal Clinic in Houston, on December 18, 1995. The records of the exam indicate that three of the manilata had bands, and one, a female, did not. The veterinary records indicate as follows:
Male, Band No. FUD 781, treated for papillomas on 1/23/1996

Female, FJH 804, treated for papillomas, same date.

Male, FIC 322, Male, treated for papillomas, same date.

Female, no band, no evidence of papillomas, same date

These two pair were placed in an outdoor aviary on the side of her children’s fort where there was lots of activity. She noticed that they were clinging to the sides of the aviaries, in the corner furthest away from the activity outside. Solely to give them a place to hide in, she then placed a nestbox inside the cage.7 She found that they began laying eggs but that the eggs were broken as all four used the nestbox.

So Ana put a divider in the cage with a small door left open in between the two sides. Over the next few weeks they paired themselves up, one pair on each side. So she then placed another box on the opposite side. Right away they each started staying in their own box and so she shut the door between them. She then built them each a big aviary. No more broken eggs!8

The adults were fed a diet of seeds, sprouted sunflower seeds about every 2 to 3 days, and fresh fruit and vegetables daily.9

These two wild-caught pairs started laying in 1996. The young from pair one had blue bands, and from pair two the bands were red. Ana simply referred to the breeding birds as the “blue pair” (1) or the “red pair” (2). Ana informed me that Francie and Quattro were young from the “red” pair which she could determine from Francie’s band number that I was able to provide her. It is not clear from the records which of the banded adults were in the blue pair or the red pair.10

Recently I had additional correspondence with Ana11, who told me the following regarding her experience raising young Red-bellied macaws:
“I do not believe the (adult’s) papillomas had any affect on them whatsoever. I was told to hand feed the babies from day one to keep them from getting (the virus). Until I started using the sweet potatoes we lost quite a few to kidney problems. I also started letting the parents raise them for 2 weeks and that also helped them.”

“Hands down the diet was a problem with the babies. After much research, I decided to mix their formula half and half with pureed sweet potatoes. They did great after that. It was when they were weaned and on what the adults got that they started to have problems again.”

“Thank goodness you were able to figure that part of it out. Oddly enough, I did not lose an adult to the diet.”

Bringing these two young birds home started a period of steep learning as well as great enjoyment. They promptly went to Dr. Stern, then my principle avian veterinarian at For the Birds, on April 5, 2001. The first order of business, according to my veterinarian, was to modify the diet to include an organic juvenile formula.

The second order of business was a complete exam. Bloodwork was immediately drawn on Francie, and it was determined by April 18 that her uric acid level was 27.6 (normal range 2.5 to 4.5). A subsequent consultation with another Bay Area avian veterinarian with some experience with this species resulted in the administration of fresh flax seed oil daily, as that would assist in reducing inflammation in the kidneys and “cannot hurt at all” (an understatement given the specific dietary needs of the species). A very diluted aspirin formula was administered twice per day. Francie was started on this regimen immediately.

Quattro had bloodwork drawn on April 19, 2001, her first test since it was initially unclear whether this bird would stay with me. Francie also came in for a re-test of her UA levels. Both birds had been on a different juvenile formula for two weeks at this point in time. Quattro’s uric acid level on that date was 18.0. Francie’s had declined to 7.9.

Another re-check was carried out on May 19, 2001, when both youngsters had had the benefit of the different diet, the flax seed, and the diluted aspirin. Francie’s UA had declined to a level of 3.6, and Quattro’s to 8.6.

This was my rough introduction to the need of the species for oils high in essential fatty acids and betacarotenes. I didn’t understand it, really, only that they seemed better and the treating veterinarian was pleased with the results. I continued to administer flax seed oil and some hemp seed oil to these two young birds as they liked it. I don’t recall ever offering any to Sophia.

Kidney disease was the known nemesis of this species at the time. Diet is the one and only keystone. That and the extreme sensitivity of the species to stressful circumstances. There are hardly any owners that I’ve encountered, and even fewer veterinarians, that understand the meaning and impact of those three simple statements. It remains that way today.

For a few happy months, though, I had a family of three Red-bellied macaws at home. That, too, was a revelation for a novice birdkeeper like me. It was all new, and all fun.

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[1] This statement assumes that someone other than me is reading these posts. I will never truly know, of course. So if no one else is reading, then I readily accept my apology.
[2] 1992 is the year that the Wild Bird Conservation Act became effective. Fish and Wildlife webpage at http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/WILDBRD.HTML
[3] If I correctly understand the tables. If I don’t it wouldn’t be the first time that I have not understood issues about trade and birds. A guide to use of the database is at http://trade.cites.org/cites_trade_guidelines/en-CITES_Trade_Database_Guide.pdf
[4] A search of CITES database by the parameter of gross imports only gives an undoubtedly rough number of about 870 Hyacinth macaws being imported into this country from 1981 until 1992. The Red-bellied Macaws and the Hyacinth macaws are both highly specialized feeders but the latter numbers into the thousands in captivity. Red-bellied Macaws were very difficult to locate in aviculture by the year 2000. In comparison, the Severe Macaw (Ara severa) was imported in greater numbers from 1981-1992 (5,334), is a more generalized feeder, and is more readily available in aviculture.
[5] Notations in 1995 breeding records from Ana Bryant.
[6] Interview with Ana Bryant, 2/23/2012.
[7] Email correspondence with Ana Bryant on 1/2/2015.
[8] Phone call with Ana Bryant on 2/25/2012.
[9] Ana had great difficulty getting the young to survive though these two pair had numerous clutches. Eggs cracked; some young died in the shell; some hatched and seemed fine, but she would then discover that a chick had suddenly died overnight.
[10] In response, Ana did an enormous amount of research with other breeders, tried to find veterinarians that had treated the species, and took ill birds or ones that had died to Texas A&M to find out what might be going wrong. She became convinced that diet was key and did her level best to understand why and modify the circumstances for her birds. Few individuals that I’ve met worked as hard as Ana in educating herself to ascertain why the species was so difficult to breed.
[11] Email correspondence with Ana Bryant on 1/2/2015.
]]>Red Bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 7: Observing Sophia and Flock Integrationtag:parrots.org,2013:index.php/78.21612013-07-19T17:04:50Z2013-07-19T17:41:51ZEvet LoewenEvet_Loewen@att.netSophia (aka "Jack") at play

By June and July of 2000, my efforts went into somehow integrating Sophia into a complicated multi-species flock. Looking back on the natural proclivities of Red Bellied Macaws, and the other mini-macaws in my flock at that time, it only dawns upon me now what difficult a task that would naturally be.

I've never studied or even seen Orthopsittica manilatas in the wild. The only observation that I can make about them in the wild is from videos and photos on the web. What I've seen rarely shows only one Red Bellied Macaw. There are typically at least three or four or a flock of twenty of their own kind. Perhaps it is just what the photographers and videographers were focused on, but as an amateur photographer myself[1], the mantra is "why photograph one bird if two to twenty can be photographed together?" It is only a hunch but it seems to me that this species is intensely flock-oriented and doesn't generally desire to casually associate with other species.

I would not characterize Illiger's as overly-aggressive birds -- they are a very good-natured species overall. They will, however, kinda hang out in gangs if they find it convenient and be territorial, and it is not like there was a lot of territory to hang on to inside my residence. Dr. Van Sant used to refer in jest to three of my Blue-Winged macaws as "the thugs" because of their joint swaggering manner towards other birds. In general, though, the Illiger's mini-macaws have a really extroverted and playful temperament.

Sophia (aka "Jack") playing with gang of Illiger's and one Hahn's)

Sophia and Hahn's "Michie"

My Severe macaw, on the other hand, is a different story. She can be very high strung but her manner of high-strungedness is to try to put other birds on the defensive. To chase them out of whatever perches they thought they had. Frankly, it would take a gang of Illiger's to deal with Pepper.

Pepper with Overseer Illiger

My solo Yellow-Collar macaw has generally, not always, been a playful, sweet bird who avoids conflict in whatever way possible, unless there's a food fight. Even then, foraging on the floor of the aviary room seems to have become his way of avoiding squabbles over higher roosts (perhaps they go to ground a lot in the wild?).

Potter as a young bird with feathers

Over time with Sophia, my perception became that the Red Bellied Macaw temperament was distinctive. They are easily stressed by confrontation, and avoid it.

Sophia was an independent bird, to be certain. She did not want to step up on a hand or a stick, and I found ultimately that attempting to train her to do so was uncomfortable for both of us. She had a neat manner of avoiding conflicts over moving her from one place to another, however. She would fly from one location to another if I simply gestured where I wanted her to be. I never formally trained her to do this (I have no training as to how to train birds, so I spend my time being trained by them instead of the reverse).

For example, the flock had day cages on the first floor of my residence and smaller nighttime cages on the second floor. Sophia quickly learned that she could simply exit her nighttime cage and fly to her daytime cage and place herself in it, without having to deal with a request to step-up on sticks or hands. She would simply reverse this routine in the evening. None of my other flock members have ever been that cooperative.[2]

Similarly, if it was desirable for her to be on a particular stand or perch, I could ask her to go there by pointing and touching the location, and she would respond.

Since this occurred without positive reinforcement training, I came to regard it as being a cooperative way to maintain choice and dignity. She was, after all, truly a wild bird.

She readily participated in chewing on toys and going through baskets to find items she enjoyed while in the presence of others of my flock -- as long as I was around to play "tot lot referee" with the crew, so to speak. Flock companionship was important to her.

She differed not only in appearance and in her means of participation, though. She avoided territorial and food aggressiveness, would separate herself quickly from any competition, and would never go on the offensive just for the heckuvit. Sometimes, my Red Bellied Macaws have not seemed adamant enough about their space, frankly.

Sophia, however, would show her mettle in a very clear biological manner after only a very few months of living with me. After all, my motto always was "A thing worth doing is worth overdoing." I had not stopped looking for other Red Bellied Macaws. I found some.

Next up in Part 8: Young Red Bellied Macaws Join the Flock

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[1] My photos DO get better as these Chronicles move along. No kidding. Just you wait.
[2] There will be no "mea culpas" or apologies for the fact that small green birds boss me around. Just deal with it.
]]>Red Bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 6: Feather Studiestag:parrots.org,2013:index.php/78.21552013-04-24T17:07:42Z2013-04-24T17:26:44ZEvet LoewenEvet_Loewen@att.net

Red Bellied Macaws have a distinctive yellow facial patch that was described as "heart-shaped" by staff at For the Birds. That facial patch is a dark yellow for older birds and for birds that get the appropriate amount of sunshine (more on that to come). The featheration over the head, neck and chest is opalescent with hints of turquoise and blues amidst the general light lime green cast. Hints of a brown tone appear on the back and secondaries mixed in with the greens.

Chest feathers below lower mandible (male)

Belly feathers below crop (female)

The leading edge of the wings finds more blue than green, again with an iridescent quality. The underside of the wings brings in translucent yellow green featheration, with elongated narrow feathers. All featheration seems very understated compared to my "high-contrast" Illiger's.

There really seems to be very little of a red-belly on this species - more of a small patch of burgundy in the vent area. The physiology of the species from head to tail is very trim, with the tail feathers tapering to an elongated narrowed "V". Round dark brown eyes, black beak and legs and talons set apart the opalescent, nearly translucent featheration.

They are handsome. They are not raucous. Though I have one who is pretty silly sometimes, silliness hasn't seemed to be their modus operandi.

Since this avian species, like all others, evolved to fill an environmental niche, and developed their featheration and colors and behaviors in order to survive and thrive in the wild, it is hopelessly anthropomorphic for me to equate their appearance with my perception of their behavior. However, so far I've not been censored on this blog, so I'll say this: the subtleties of their featheration match their understated (compared to other macaws) personalities. They just aren’t "in-your-face" kinda psittacines. Mine have been gentle souls. Not that they won’t give you a good bite if they have to. But they typically prefer not.

Four feathers from Marco (captive bred) on left, and four feathers from Jake (wild caught) on right

The acquisition of my severe macaw, Pepper, had taught me the importance of getting an avian veterinarian to check any new birds to be introduced into the flock at the earliest possible time. So, at least I was educable in that sphere!

By the year 2000, my avian veterinary clinic was For the Birds, now located in San Jose, California. Dr. Fern Van Sant, DVM had taken over as the principal avian veterinarian for the flock from her associate, Dr. Hilary Stern, DVM. Both of them are excellent, knowledgeable, and caring about avians and their human clientele. They are thorough in their exams, and I came to simply accept their standards as the template. For the Birds has been a practice devoted 100% to extraordinary avian care for many years.

Even with my confidence in For the Birds, I decided to seek Sophia's first wellness exam from a third avian veterinarian in the San Francisco Bay Area, also with an excellent background for avian care, and with some experience with Red Bellied Macaws. Not many avian veterinarians had experience with the species, and I thought it important that Sophia be seen by one who did.

It was a week into May before I took Sophia for her wellness exam. It was also her first time being transported in a car with me. She had not settled in to the rest of the flock yet, and I thought it would be a rough ride for her.

Instead she was intensely curious, not making an anxious sound at all and looking all around at the scenery as we drove. Perhaps the drive gave visual stimulation, like flight, I thought.

As far as I could tell, the medical exam went extremely well. Sophia's featheration was pronounced excellent. A second DNA test was run to verify gender, and again came back that macaw was indeed female. A CBC was returned as normal, as was a fecal culture. No lesions or papillomas in the choana or cloaca. I frankly did not know what to look and listen for regarding the health status of this bird and so simply heard the term "nice bird" or "beautiful featheration". The one type of bloodwork not done at this time was for uric acid levels, and I did not understand the significance of that bloodwork until many months later.

With the wellness exam over and the indications positive, I didn't see a need to do anything further with regard to her health. I could begin to oversee her integration into the flock.

Over time, I learned that assuming knowledge that is really outside one's expertise is a dangerous thing; a little knowledge is a dangerous thing; the equivalent of nearly no knowledge is also perilous. It's a very fine line to walk with any avian species, and also with veterinarians.

The easy proclivity of the Red Bellied Macaws to gout and kidney disease was well-known even at the time Sophia came to me. Being knowledgeable enough to request bloodwork on uric acid levels would have been the right way to be. I didn't understand the need for UA bloodwork on this species, and I didn't take Sophia in to For the Birds for a workup. I think I just told the staff at my regular clinic that everything was cool, and assumed it was.

I was in essence a bird-owner-in-training. Over several years, I found the best relationship to have with any avian veterinarian treating my flock is a collaborative one, where either party could ask questions of the other and neither one would become defensive in giving the answer. Honesty was definitely the best policy even if it were slow in coming.

Case in point. At Dr. Van Sant's office, the veterinary technicians on a well bird exam would come out to inspect whatever parrot that was brought in and peer into the carrier to take an initial look-see at the bird and whatever else happened to be in the carrier. A brief report of that look-see would be given to Dr. Van Sant before the owner came into the exam room. A brief comment would then be made during the exam of the dangers of sunflower and safflower seeds, or peanuts, or the soft cotton rope toy given to keep that bird semi-entertained in the carrier and more likely to simply be pooped on.

So, did I stop giving the birds sunflower or safflower seeds, or peanuts, or cotton ropes? Noooo. I did diligently remove these items from the carriers prior to taking birds in to see Dr. Van Sant, however. That way, it became a case of "see no evil" on the part of the vet tech, and "hear no evil" on my part. Wasn't too hot for the bird, though. Dr. Van Sant does have a good sense of humor and really laughed out loud when I finally confessed to this ruse.

As a lawyer, I'm inclined to investigate facts for clients and ask questions. However, all along the way with my birds, I've not asked all the questions that could have been asked. The birds have all had to teach me about their needs. It's a tough job, but some bird has gotta do it.

And they all have. Whether they wanted to, or not.

Next up: Red Bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 6 - Feather Studies
]]>Red Bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 4: Jaketag:parrots.org,2013:index.php/78.21462013-03-08T22:37:40Z2013-03-08T23:45:41ZEvet LoewenEvet_Loewen@att.netThe First Red Bellied Macaw is the Best, Until One Gets the Next One or Two, That Is
Orthopsittica manilata were uncommon in 2000, eight years after the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 was in effect. Howard Voren's article on the difficulties of formulating a diet for this species was on the web then, and still is today. That was virtually the only information I had at the time concerning the differences in diet and temperament for this species in comparison to other parrots and especially in comparison to my other mini-macaws.

Manilatas have been notoriously hard to keep in captivity. Ignorance for most humans does indeed still constitute bliss, however. I am sorry to say that I am no exception to this rule.

P.A.S.[1] was in full swing the Spring of the year 2000. I began an extensive internet search for Red Bellied Macaws for sale. There were very few leads on the internet, and I was diligently searching for any mention on lists of parrot breeders, listservs, and such print media as had classified ads by aviculturists.

Then, on some listserv pertaining to macaws, a participant named Michell mentioned that she had a Red Bellied Macaw. One thing led to another – I emailed Michell to inquire about her bird. She replied that she had just sold the Red Bellied Macaw (named "Jake") back to the lady from whom she had purchased him, whose name was Judi. I was advised to contact Judi directly, and promptly did so. "Jake" was still with Judi, and was available for sale.

Michell had thought Jake to be a very neat bird. She indicated that he liked to spend time in her kitchen, on the top of the refrigerator as I recall. He seemed to have some freedom inside the house. There was some family complication that made it not possible to keep Jake, although Michell was clearly charmed by him.

The back story to "Jake" is a bit fuzzy. Michell thought that Jake was handraised and was only two years old, and was a male. Judi indicated that this red bellied macaw was a wild-caught, with an open band, had been DNA tested as a female, and the age was not really clear. It didn't matter. He/she was a Red Bellied Macaw, the first I could locate, and that was that.

Ancient emails indicate that a first contact with Michell occurred on April 13th, 2000. By April 27th, a deal had been struck with Judi and "Jake" was shipped from Minneapolis Airport to San Jose California arriving at 1:43 PM. I was instructed to look at him/her before I left the cargo area – the health paper was on top of the carrier and her DNA paper was to be mailed to me.

Everyone knows not to purchase a bird sight-unseen, right? All ya'll reading this blog post know that, right? It didn't matter. Here was a Red Bellied Macaw. The first search had been successful.

"Jake" arrived in a state of high anxiety, it seemed to me. Red bellied macaws have a high pitched voice and make continual nearly staccato "beeps" when anxious. At least, that is my analysis of the sounds I've heard mine make. They are known to be stress-prone, tautly- strung birds. He/she was inside of a wired, specially made cage that itself was placed in a carrier, and very securely put together so as to prevent an escape. It must have seemed very claustrophobic to a bird, a creature of light and air.

Releasing "Jake" from the carrier and the interior cage was not easy (and not intended to be). Disassembling the carrier and taking pliers to the wired cage were necessary. When freedom finally arrived, this bird burst out of the carrier cage while crying loudly, and definitely looked straight at me with alarm and fear. I felt extreme concern for this beautiful bird who seemed so glad to be out of that enclosure, and at the same time, so frightened of me.

As quickly as I could manage, "Jake" was taken to his new cage located in a room with sunshine and an open window, set up with water and food, and then was left alone. I couldn't resist looking in on him frequently, but in general I understood that this bird needed time to adjust and as much quiet as could be managed in a house with other parrots and an open floor plan.

"Jake" was my first "wild caught" parrot. It was only 8 years since the importation of exotic birds had been banned in the US, so obtaining a wild-caught bird was not uncommon. Since then, there have been three other wild-caught parrots of different species that I have cared for. This Red Bellied Macaw seemed different from my captive-bred parrots in two particular ways: he did not want to be held; and he was notably more responsive and attentive to what requests I made of him, as long as I gave him plenty of physical space. As much space as I could give a creature of light and air who was now inside my small house, with hardly an outdoor patio for fresh air and sunshine.

Believing in matters of science (DNA testing) and in the certificate I received from Judi, "Jake" was thus renamed "Sophia". Of course, it didn't matter to Sophia what human name I gave her. I thought her to be a beautiful bird, and Sophia to be a beautiful name, so that's the name she received, based on the gender I then believed her to be.

]]>Red Bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 3tag:parrots.org,2012:index.php/78.21322012-11-19T16:05:54Z2013-03-08T22:57:56ZEvet LoewenEvet_Loewen@att.netWhy Acquire Multiple Small Macaws When One Doesn’t Understand the FIRST Small Macaw One Gets?

It’s been a while since I’ve contributed here because I’ve been trying to figure out how I decided to acquire a bunch of mini-macaws, including Red-Bellied Macaws. This is a difficult topic, the one of owning several birds. Like, more than ten, and less than fifty. In my defense, a lot fewer than fifty, but a squidge more than ten.

From 1998 to 2005, I acquired sixteen small macaws. The species included one Chestnut-Fronted Macaw, one Yellow-Collar Macaw, three Red-Shouldered (Hahn’s) Macaws, six Blue-Winged Macaws (Illiger’s), and eventually five Red-Bellied Macaws.

Of this group, prior owners gave me two of the Red-Shouldered Macaws and the Yellow-Collar. My first Red-Bellied Macaw, an older wild-caught, was only with me for less than two years and died of visceral gout. An Illiger’s and a Red-Bellied Macaw, both young, were lost due to the mistaken belief that they would not leave my shoulder if I stepped outside, and were not retrieved alive. One lucky Illiger’s who needed his own space was happily re-homed with good friends. The rest still take a disproportionate amount of my time and treasure, but reside contentedly now in their own secure private aviary facility built especially for them.

The small macaws were and remain a favorite.[1] They are feisty, raucous, and handsome. They like music, good food, and remind me in a very favorable way of living in Brasil. Of course, they themselves, were they in their native habitat, would occupy parts of Brasil.

If I could tell you a logical reason for starting a collection of birds, it would have been written weeks ago and would be incisive. Taking birds willingly surrendered from prior owners doesn’t feel so odd. As to ones obtained without such a compelling rationale, there is no simple, direct, logical reason that I myself understand for maintaining such a persistent preoccupation with small parrots. All I know is that by the year 2000, P.A.S. (Parrot Acquisition Syndrome) was in full swing, and it seemed totally fine to consider having an entire flock of small macaws, with the possible representation of every small macaw species available.

What I can proffer as to my attraction to small macaws (and parrots in general) is the following:

Parrots stop time. They live a long time and for large blocks of time they do not change much physically. It is jarring to look at records indicating their ages and years they’ve been with me, because they age so much better than I do.

Be Here Now. That’s what they require. It’s a form of meditation to spend time with lots of birds. Turn aside your anxiety or the parrot will mirror it. Don’t yell or the parrot mimics it. Don’t enter their space, wherever that is, in a state of high stress, or your hearing will pay the price for it.

Biology rules. It does with us though we forget that. It certainly does with these practically wild flighted creatures. They search for cavities in closets, engage in foraging on floors, under towels and any other intriguing space, find bonded others in two-legged featherless and flightless beings, engage in calling loudly to their flock or bonded other by use of calls-expecting-responses, or human language, as a few examples.

Continuous improvement is mandatory. Especially on dietary matters. We don’t always know what they evolved to eat, but they didn’t all evolve to eat the very same foods (or seeds). They don’t do well unless the biped caring for them starts to get educated about their nutritional needs. Which knowledge sometimes helps the biped, too.

Smaller beaks (than the large macaws) are more user-friendly. This is especially good for people with hang-ups about step-up training or who are easily intimidated by small green bossy parrots, let alone the large colorful or pure white ones.

Small macaws have No Hidden Agendas. This is applicable to most parrots and probably all kinds of species other than Homo sapiens. WYSIWYG (old techie term for “What You See Is What You Get”).

Mini-macaws minimize materialism. To live with parrots and small macaws is to learn that the objects one prizes are unimportant. Because one has to choose between the mini-macaw that grabs, with talons and/or beak, the watch or ring or earring or blouse or picture frame or molding or chandelier, and destroys it within three seconds, and the feeling of frustration derived from the destruction of the item(s). Over time, material things just have not meant as much as the living, breathing, feathered and flighted dinosaur descendants that occupy time and space with me.

So I guess the general attraction is that these small macaws inspire lessons in appreciating the moment, understanding biology, learning about evolution and its effects on nutrition, overcoming fear of physical pain, putting living creatures (humans included) at a higher priority than stuff, and being authentic. Very Zen, no?

Other than as in the old potato chip ad that “you can’t have just one”, I can’t articulate a good reason for setting out to get a bunch of small macaws -- only that I did do so. And that the Red-Bellied Macaws have presented me with the greatest challenge in keeping them here on the planet with me, in terms of their health and well being.

Parting thought. Once I was interviewed for a possible story by a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who wanted to know why Peregrine falcons were so fascinating to me. This because of the role I played in a prior life, with an educational project about bringing this species back from extinction. I said that Peregrine falcons are spectacular in flight, extraordinarily beautiful, wonderful in raising young. This very nice young lady pressed and pressed, and none of the statements I made seemed adequate for her purposes. Finally I simply said “I don’t know why they draw me in. Why do people play golf?” [2]

Why indeed.

So next post (Part 4), the specifics of my Red-Bellied Macaws come to the foreground.

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[1] We will not be discussing the dilemma of acquiring or listing other non-mini-macaw species in our parrot count.
[2] This response elicited much laughter from the interviewer but no article in the WSJ.

]]>Red Bellied Macaw Chronicles Part 2:&nbsp; How It All Begantag:parrots.org,2012:index.php/78.21252012-09-20T14:44:02Z2012-09-21T02:50:03ZEvet LoewenEvet_Loewen@att.net
It began totally the wrong way. It began the way that 95% of parrot owners decide that they’d like to have a parrot (I made that percentage up, so please don’t get upset if you think it is an inaccurate statement).

My brother, his wife, and two wonderful daughters have had an umbrella cockatoo for 18 years now. Back in 1998, Abigail was a younger umbrella and definitely in charge of the household. Still is, for that matter. A very well socialized and happy cockatoo who is an integral member of the family and gracious to every guest.

In 1998 I visited my brother Collin, his wife Susan, and his two fine daughters, Allyson and Kaitlin, who live in Houston, Texas. One day my brother asked me if I’d like to go to the place where they purchased Abigail. It was a place that only sold birds and bird stuff. I’d never seen a bunch of young parrots all in once place. Of course, I thought they were “adorable”. Especially one little green one with a facial patch that had lines of small feathers, and brown feathers on her cere, who came right up to the side of the cage where she was stashed with a bunch of other juvenile, unweaned severe macaws.

I was immediately intrigued. I had never thought of owning a parrot before. I had no idea what a severe macaw was, where it came from, how it was bred in captivity, what it ate, what it needed to live a good life in captivity, what size cage it needed, what type of veterinarian care it would require. None of that.

It’s not as if I marched up to the counter and said I wanted the bird right then and there. No sirree. I came back to visit about 3 times, thinking about whether it was a good time in my life to take on that type of commitment, simply in terms of cost of purchase.

On the third visit, I came with my sister-in-law. It was the day before I was to leave to return to California. I still wavered. My sister-in-law, seeing how drawn I was to this bird, said “Oh, just get the bird.” So I did. Then, one of Collin’s daughters, Allyson, named the bird “Pepper” because of her red coloring on her carpals and the green body. The name Pepper stuck.

The people at the store told me that the bird was unweaned and sold me some sort of juvenile formula and gave me one of those giant feeding syringes. It was a piece of cake to feed a baby bird, I was informed.

I had to run around and find a veterinarian that would issue a health certificate that night so that I could get Pepper on the plane with me the following day. She did fly in the passenger compartment beneath the seat, probably not the most comforting of ways to begin a new life with a total stranger.

When I arrived back in Silicon Valley with Pepper and rushed her to my house, I knew I had no cage for her at all and the beneath-the-airplane-seat carrier wouldn’t suffice for her even overnight. So, I came in the door, put her in the bathtub and closed the bathroom door since there were several cats in the house, and ran out promptly to a pet store to get a cage. It was a decent sized cage, but since it came from a major chain, was not the best nor as large as she very quickly needed. She had a new place to be that evening, though.

Then, lady luck intervened. A vet tech from a great clinic had been housesitting for my dog and cats. She came to check in, saw poor little Pepper, and said “You know, this bird should get a full checkup by an avian veterinarian. Birds are different and have special needs. You really should take her in to see the veterinarian at our clinic in the next few days.”

So I did. And received a thorough lesson in what needed to be done. Higher quality juvenile formula. More adept instructions on how to feed an unweaned parrot, such as taking great care not to burn the crop by overheating the food. Strict instructions on cleanliness of cage and food and feeding bowls that I follow to this day. And, a diagnosis that Pepper had e. coli, and needed an antibiotic. That was sobering.

After getting tons of instructional materials and what felt like a lecture, I finally told this veterinarian not to worry, that I had had many cats and dogs and could care for a bird just fine, thank you. That must have been very reassuring! How foolish. How arrogant.

So here’s the list of what I did wrong in getting my first bird, and still my most important bird:

(1) Impulse purchase;
(2) No knowledge whatsoever about owning birds, let alone parrots;
(3) Unweaned 12 week old juvenile bird;
(4) No idea how to properly feed an unweaned juvenile parrot;
(5) Not even a cage or decent carrier for this bird to be brought after a long plane ride back to California from Texas;
(6) A full vet check only occurred several days after purchase;
(7) Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Why is a severe macaw important in a chronicle about Red Bellied Macaws?

Because Pepper is a small macaw and an introduction to the idea that small macaws are neat birds. ALL small macaws. After a while, I wanted ALL species of small macaws -- also, perhaps, not the brightest of ideas that I’ve ever had.

I have two good friends on each coast that are the Executive Directors of organizations (Mickaboo on the West Coast, and Phoenix Landing on the East Coast) that re-home parrots who have been given up by their owners, and need foster care until a new home is located. With any luck, neither one of them will find or read this Part 2 of the Red Bellied Macaw chronicles. Because, if they do, I’m not certain either one of them will ever go out to lunch with me again.

Next – Part 3: P. A. S. (i.e., Parrot Acquisition Syndrome)
]]>The Red Bellied Macaw Chroniclestag:parrots.org,2012:index.php/78.21222012-09-03T19:36:26Z2012-09-21T02:50:27ZEvet LoewenEvet_Loewen@att.net
But since that period in May, 2000, I’ve had 5 red bellied macaws as companion parrots, three of which are still with me. All birds, I’ve learned, can be great teachers about many things, including biology and the environment. These manilatas have been great teachers about differences in temperament, and their complicated (at least for me) dietary needs stemming from their highly specialized feeding on the Moriche palmfruit in the wild.

Since the birds I currently have are 11, 12, and 16 years old, and I can’t now seem to find any other owners or breeders of the species in the USA no matter how hard I look, I’ve come to view the ones I have as rather special. No matter that they are CITES II in the wild and not nearly as endangered as the Blue-Throated macaw, the Illiger’s macaw,or the Great Green macaw. Somehow, and not always with accurate information or knowledge, I’ve managed to keep mine in relative health, and recently have greatly improved their condition through diet and careful monitoring with regular bloodwork.

So, I’ve decided to share this personal journey with some special orthopsittica manilatas who are charming, gentle, humorous, dignified, dainty, expressive, and altogether engrossing, at least for me. I’ve been lucky to have them in my life.